I started this book twice because it just didn’t click with me at first and I found the pace too slow. I’m glad I came back to it and persevered because it builds into a moving meditation on the purpose of life and has kept me thinking ever since. 

Our main character is a 12 year old boy called Eddie. He is flying to LA with his family, because his mum, Jane, has a screenwriting job. He is very close with his 15 year old brother Jordan and as they board the plane they are bickering over who gets the window seat. We see snippets of the lives of all the other passengers too: a gay army veteran, a Wall Street millionaire, a woman taking a pregnancy test in the toilet, and the air crew. Over Colorado the plane gets into trouble and crashes, killing every one of these people, except Eddie. The novel then explores how this 12 year old sole survivor of the crash copes with the trauma of the crash and the loss of his whole family. 

Eddie goes to live with his aunt and uncle. His mum’s sister Jane wants to help Eddie but is struggling to know what he needs. Their instinct is to protect as much as possible. In this time of press intrusion, keyboard warriors and internet ‘experts’ everyone wants a piece of Eddie. How did this boy survive when every other passenger died? As well as being hounded by the outside world, Eddie can feel the weight of his aunt and uncle’s grief as soon as he arrives at their home. It’s an unbearable burden for a boy who has lost everything. He keeps putting one foot in front of the other, but he’s not really present. He has disappeared inside himself and even his therapist can’t get through to him. 

The author uses intervening chapters about the other lost passengers. We learn a little more about their lives and start to comprehend how much their families have lost when the plane went down. Every single passenger had something or someone to live for. The one that really brought a lump to my throat was the woman who has just found out she was pregnant. I remember the joy I felt at that moment and the way I imagined the whole life of my baby spooling out in front of me. For Eddie, the knowledge of all these lives being snuffed out in a moment, is an unbearable burden. There’s a survivor’s guilt and an obligation to value the opportunity surviving has afforded him, But when you are unable to comprehend and accept your own loss, how can you live life to its full potential? Eddie is barely existing and has no appetite for daily life. He’s also aware that he doesn’t have any boundaries, Jane is so concerned about shielding him and doing the right thing, she has created a situation where he can get away with anything, No one dare say no. 

Eddie’s saving grace is meeting the girl next door. Shay seems able to understand how he feels, even more than his therapist. More than that, she is forthright and able to say no to him. He feels safe with her. He finds that the only place he can sleep is at her house. He is honest and able to tell her that he is numb, he simply can’t feel anything. He is like a clockwork toy, making all the right moves but without any emotional connection. He has no appetite for the life he’s been gifted. As he recovers physically and is able to go back to school, Shay supports him, 

Where this novel succeeds is its depiction of grief and how a huge loss like Eddie’s never goes away, but becomes easier to live with. He slowly starts to heal and let his emotions reconnect. He has to learn that although human connection is scary, it is ultimately the only way he will heal.

This book was totally different from any other story I have read in my many years as an avid consumer of books. It made me think a lot about being the sole survivor of any major disaster.  I liked the characters and wanted Edward to be able to move on from his experience.  Half way through the book I couldn't figure which way the story was going to turn.  I liked getting to know a little about the different passengers on the plane and about their families and loved ones.  It was a story that kept me engaged to the very end and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

3.5🌟
The end of this book had me feeling like a big messy puddle!
The book is based around 12yr old Edward who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed his parents and his brother. It follows his life from this point up untill he reaches18 and how he adjusts to life after the event. It switches between present events and interactions between the passengers on the plane that day leading up to the crash. I was totally invested in the start of this book but I did lose interest about 1/4 of the way through. I found I wasn't that bothered by the storyline of the additional passengers on the plane and its not untill the end that you realise what an important part of the book those interactions play. The book didn't really grab me again untill Edward starts reading the letters from loved ones of the people that died. Reading these letters had me feeling quite choked and emotional. The last part of the book where we discover what caused the crash and what the passengers are going through had me in bits! Although I liked Edwards growth in the story I found most of the characters felt a bit flat and I couldnt really connect with them. Overall a good story and be prepared to need lots of tissues

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is  a wonderful book to read and savour. It is the story of Edward,  who is the only survivor of a plane crash that not only kills his parents and older brother but everyone else on board. The book is in three parts and tells Edwards story from before, during and after the air crash but also tells  other people’s stories,who were on that plane that day. 
It tells the story of how Edward survives and begins to live his life surrounded by people who love and care for him. This is the story of Shay, his aunt, his uncle and other people whom Edward comes into contact with. 
It is an easy to read story which is incredibly sad, evocative and very moving. In the end it is a story of live, death and whom you love. That then shapes us all to become the people we are.
Highly recommended.

Jane and Bruce Adler boarded the flight from New York to Los Angeles with their two sons, fifteen-year-old Jordan and twelve-year-old Eddie. There were another 183 passengers on board, plus the flight crew. The family were moving to LA after having lived in New York the whole of the children’s lives – it would be a new chapter. But the plane was destined not to arrive, crashing during a storm as turbulence buffeting the plane. When the rescuers rushed to the scene, they found one twelve-year-old boy, still miraculously alive in the carnage.

As Edward slowly recovered his many injuries, physically he improved but mentally he was shattered. He missed his family, missed Jordan as they’d never been apart. How could one damaged boy make sense of what had happened to him? Why was he spared and not his brother? Edward was living with his aunt and uncle, his mum’s sister and her husband and Lacey and John were kind to him. Next door was Shay and her mother Besa. Shay and Edward became fast friends, with her being a saviour to Edward when he felt so lost.

Dear Edward is a profound and poignant look at life and its fragilities. How we take things for granted – each other – until one day it’s too late. Author Ann Napolitano has nailed it with this book in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed Dear Edward and with it being my first by this author, I’ll be looking to read more by her. Set between the current day with Edward, and back on board the plane as it moves forward in slow increments of time, we get to know the passengers who are fated to be making their final journey. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

A boy is the sole survivor of a plane crash. Why him? Is he 'the chosen one' like Harry Potter?
The twelve year old struggles with his identity. There are two lives in this story - before the crash and after the crash. He even uses two names. He was Eddie before and Edward after. Before, he was part of a family with parent and a brother and simply an ordinary boy no one was interested in. Afterwards his family consists of an aunt and uncle and everyone wants to know him. For a while he is a celebrity, an oddity. Then comes resentment. Why is he so special?

To continue this theme, the story is split into two narratives. One is aboard the plane as it goes through its final journey, looking at some of the issues of a few characters, considering their life choices and ambitions,  as one does on long flights. The other is how Edward copes with his new life where absolutely nothing of his old life remains. He is cut off from the media intrusion by his uncle's protective hiding of letters, documents and social media and news coverage. Edward finds a way to cut off his thoughts and feelings by creating an internal sheet in a similar way.

A few years pass and the boy matures to realise that he is not 'the chosen one' and this leaves him to decide what his purpose is. This is an intense and deeply moving journey, written with the minimal of sentiment and yet is both emotional and cerebral. Written mainly from the child's perspective the emerging thoughts and philosophies come across authentically lateral. The other advantage of this point of view is that the legal, medical and technical aspects of the story can be skimmed over realistically.

In the end we find out why the plane crashed and how Edward was found. The epilogue ties up the whole story and leaves plenty to think about. An original, well-written and poignant story, about survival, identity, guilt and purpose; expertly told and a pleasure to read.

I’d seen a lot of hype about this book, so I was really looking forward to reading it.  Now that I’ve finished it, I can’t decide whether I liked it or not.  The story weaves between the flight and the characters on the plane and between Edward after the crash and how he comes to terms with life as the only survivor on the plane.  I kind of didn’t want to read the bits about the people on the plane as I didn’t want to get to know them, knowing that they were all going to die and I found the parts about Edward’s rehabilitation slow and a little depressing. I struggled with it for quite a way into the book, but I feel that the story was finally saved around 70% of the way into the book with the discovery of the letters (and a realisation of why it’s called ‘Dear Edward’) and the last 10% was actually quite beautiful and bumped my rating up by a star.

This was a lovely book to read, emotional, funny, and gripping. 
Loved reading Edwards thoughts, and how he works things out in his own mind. 
Characters were brill and a great mix 
Very well written loved it

A place accident, a tragedy, but one small boy survives.  This delicately written novel explores the weight of expectation on a grieving child's shoulders and how to salvage hope.  Beautiful.

Dear Edward deals with the topic of how a twelve year old boy could possibly recover, not only from losing his whole family in an instant, but also from being the sole survivor out of nearly two hundred passengers and crew. Of course there is an unimaginable amount of grief, but there is also survivor guilt and a feeling that maybe you have been saved for something special.

Edward deals with all this in his own way but helped by a number of very caring adults. The author does a good job of writing a young boy and looking at his feelings and behaviours in a realistic way, and I loved his relationship with Shay.

My only criticism would be that there was too much page time given to the other passengers on the flight. I understood why they were introduced and also why the information about the flight and it's eventual crash was inserted in chapters throughout the book, but I felt we did not need so much background for each of them. Especially the totally nonsensical scene in the bathroom.

I found it an interesting book with a likeable and very level headed main character, and a book which is not as emotional as one might expect from the topic.

‘Since death is certain, but the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?’ 

This is my first 5 star read of 2020! 

I’m just completely smitten with this story, the characters, certain phrases. It just filled me with so many incredible feelings. 

From start to finish I was addicted to Edward, his story, his feelings. I could not get enough. 

I love how the story developed. 

Dear Edward was just sheer perfection. 

Perfect for fans of  contemporary.

When you first meet the Adler family they are moving from New York to Los Angeles. All their stuff has been packed up while they fly off to a new life. I found out a little about their lives as each of them have thoughts about each other and the little things that make them who they are. Mum is in first-class while dad, fifteen-year-old Jordan and twelve-year-old Eddie are travelling a further 29 rows down the plane away from her, a perk of her job. But of the 192 people that take off on the plane, there is only one survivor found after it crashes. Eddie.
Eddie's only relatives are Aunt Lacey and Uncle John, a childless couple that longed for a baby that couldn't survive. With no experience to call anything of bringing up children, never mind one who is struggling to know why he alone has survived, they go in blind determined to support their nephew in every way. The girl next door befriends, Edward the name he now uses, and she becomes his rock.
Edward is either loved and almost worshipped or hated and avoided these days. It is quite heartbreaking at times the lengths that some will go to get a photo of him. The supporting characters in the story are amazing from his headteacher to his psychologist. His body is healing far quicker than his mind though as he suffers PTSD in the gym at school, which almost loses him the only friends that he has.
When Edward finds bags of post in the garage where his uncle has made his man cave, it begins a new chapter of healing for Edward, with the support of Shay. Oh my, this story just rocketed. The story covers a number of years from Edward as a boy to Edward as a mature young man.
Set on two timelines which were so very clever. The first is from the Adler family entering the airport, their thoughts and the other people that Edward sees on the plane, with snippets of their lives too, up to the moment that Edward is found in the plane wreckage, so this account only covering a few hours. The other covers years of Edward and the life journey he has ahead of him. Just fabulous writing. The build-up to the crash just overwhelmed me completely, it couldn't have been written better. I loved the ending.
The is a stunning story that I won't be able to forget, not that I want to. Highly recommended.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

A story of loss, Eddie is left an orphan after a plane crash killing all passengers.
Eddie soon becomes  Edward , a significant change, depicting how a 12 year but has to, overnight, become adult.
Unfortunately, this novel was 'lost' on me as I didn't really connect with the passengers and never like a story with different timeframe which takes more concentration and causes confusion.
Florida, I couldn't take to and didn't like the author's idea that she: inhabits people's bodies and has had many lives.
I appreciate the opportunity to read this book and experience an author unknown to me, but I wouldn't recommend it

I don't think it's that this was a bad book, I just don't think I connected with it properly. Maybe I wasn't in the mood? I didn't feel any kind of affinity with any of the characters, and I found myself not wanting to pick it up; almost doing other things to avoid doing so. It's a shame, because the premise is so good - and the very last page made me bump my rating by a star actually. I'm aware this isn't a great/very articulate review; perhaps this is a book that needs to be read itself before forming an opinion.

Just finished a digital copy of Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano.

A 12 year old is the only survivor of a plane crash. He lost his parents and his brother.

The book follows his recovery, both physically and mentally whilst simultaneously telling the story of the final journey of the plane.

A beautiful story, filled with sadness and happiness and an important message - to make the most of time and opportunities.

Definitely not to be read just before or on a plane journey.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an arc in return for an honest review. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read this very special book and I recommend you all go out and read it now too.
The year is 2013 and 12 year old Eddie is moving with his mum, dad and 15 year old brother Jordan, all the way across the states, from New York to LA. It's a big move and a big opportunity for all of them. But they don't make it. They are in a plane crash and out of the 191 passengers, Eddie is the only survivor.

This is the crazy, but brilliant premise of this book and I was hooked instantly. This book is getting a lot of buzz and I can see why. The book is told in alternating chapters between the present day and the plane journey in real time. We know the plane is going to crash, but because of the build up and each chapter getting to know the passengers on the plane, getting an insight into the lives of all these different individuals, it ranks up the tension and emotion, that by the time we get to 2.12pm the time of the crash, I was a wreck.

On the ground and in the present, Edward starts to rebuild his life and deal with the trauma. It's a long road ahead, filled with grief, growing pains and struggles but one that we get to go on with him as he grows older and stronger. We also learn more about the victims and the victims families. And how Edward deals with being the lone survivor "...as long as I stay on the ground, the plane will stay in the sky. It'll keep flying on its normal route to Los Angeles, and I'm it's counterweight. They're all alive up there, as long as I'm alive down here" "The twelve year old you is up there too?" "Eddie, he thinks and nods" Brilliantly written and executed with a satisfying ending.

DNF @ 35%.

When I read the blurb for this book, I was intrigued. It sounded like a book with so much promise. Unfortunately though, this one just didn't work for me and if truth be told, I found reading it to be a struggle. I was really bored. I think that the problem was that I didn't connect with any of the characters. I thought that Edward's struggle of being left totally alone in the world would make me feel very sad and emotional, but at 35% of the way through the book, I really wasn't feeling much.

I couldn't see the plot in this book. I couldn't see where the story was going, or in fact what the story was actually about. And I couldn't see that my opinion of the book would change if I pushed myself to keep going. The story just seemed to be a character driven tragedy...and for a book like that to work for me, I really needed to feel emotionally invested in the characters, which unfortunately I wasn't.

Due to the fact that I didn't finish this book, I won't be posting this review on social media as I normally do. I'll only post this review on Goodreads, but not on the various social media pages and forums that I usually post on.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for my review copy. I do appreciate being given the opportunity to read and review this title.

I really loved the perspectives of this book - popping back and forth between present day and the flight's journey.  The last couple "chapter" of the book were really emotional and moving but I found the earlier bits lacked something for me.  It's like I didn't get to know quite enough about the other passengers although the whole point really is that they were taken too soon.  I wanted to know more about the NTSB hearing than what we were given.

All in all, a moving and emotional story of love, loss and moving forward when you feel like you were left behind.  My heart ached for Eddie, to be such a young boy and feel like those 191 passengers left him behind.  I absolutely loved his sentiment where as long as he felt rooted to the ground, all 191 + 12 year old Eddie were still up there.

Dear Edward is a wonderful novel that tells a life affirming story of how hope and new perspectives arise from tragedy.  As the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills his parents and brother, Edward's life changes forever.   I liked the way the plane crash builds up with the stories of the passengers that gives an effective snapshot of their lives that is enough to care about what happens to everyone.  The monotonous, ordinariness of the flight adds the reality of the sense of the impending doom.  The early chapters switch between the plane journey to the aftermath as Edward finds himself the subject of national news, and then as he starts to come to terms with and rebuild his life.  

I was hooked by wanting to know what happened on that fateful flight, and Edward's story.

A literary fiction novel set over two timelines where twelve year old Edward, the only survivor of a plane crash that killed all 191 others on board, finds letters written to him from the families of the dead. One timeline focuses on Edward and the long road of recovery as he is adopted by his aunt and uncle, and the other is of the flight and flits between a dozen passengers as we learn about their last moments and what happened.

Edward was such a lost kid to follow through the couple of years after the tragedy, having had his whole family taken away, especially the loss of his brother who he did everything with. I loved the relationships he forms with his aunt and uncle and with his neighbours who he befriends. The book showed how much everybody around Edward was also affected by the event and how much they cared for him. I loved the way it didn't gloss over how difficult he found it to settle into a completely new life, and how long that grieving process takes with the bumps and set backs that came with it. The scene where he struggles to eat and chooses to try one each of his family's favourite things was very sad and you felt just how much he missed them and how impossible it felt for him to move on. But at the same time, because of the way it's written, the emotions never felt overwhelming as a reader.

Back on the plane, we get a lot more people to follow, the head hoping was written so well. Each character was unique and had a whole life they were coming from and going to at the end of the flight, seeing them all through each others eyes was great and it gave insight when Edward discovers letters written to him from the family and friends of the dead asking things of him. The letters of the premise don't show up until much later than I expected but having met so many of the characters mentioned by then, I think it worked perfectly. Overall, this is a moving story about people, grief and recovery in the wake of a massive tragedy and how difficult it is for so many people involved.